Stagecoach MCSL - Chester & Wirral Depots

[polarbear]

RE: Stagecoach Chester & Wirral
Thanks to all who have replied to my earlier comment regarding a form of express service between Chester & Liverpool.

At the time the X8 was replaced with the 1, I was a member of the public transport liasion committee with the former Cheshire CC & was at the meeting when First announced the changeover. At the time, I said that I felt there was still a market for a "fast" service between the two point, though I acknowledged that Cheshire Oaks was a big revenue generator.

At that time, the train service between Chester & Liverpool was every 30 minutes. It's now every 15 minutes & loading well so the demand IS there, it's just that the bus companies have given up on it & left it to the trains.

Not everyone who travels between Chester & Liverpool finds the train is necessarily convenient. Certainly, there are large areas of Ellesmere Port that aren't particularly close to the railway.

My idea would be to extend some of the present X2's from Ellesmere Port to Liverpool, (say hourly). From E'Port, I would operate this by running over Westminster Bridge & then up the M53 to Hooton. From there, all stops to Port Sunlight, then New Ferry by-pass, Birkenhead bus station & on to Liverpool. The running time between E'port & Liverpool would be around 45 minutes so would require an additional two vehicles.

This would increase the number of services running up the A41 but from what I have seen, the loadings are becoming quite healthy up there & an extra bus each hour would help matters.

I agree such a service may abstract some revenue from the existing services 1 & 2, but I think this would be short term as overall, I would expect passenger numbers to rise as people like myself, attracted by both price & convenience, would opt for the bus rather than the train, (which is NOT cheap in the peak hours, unlike the bus).